The CleanEvent Way: The Culture Behind the Career
Some cultures are built to be talked about. Others are simply lived, one decision at a time.

Ask anyone who has built a long career in cleaning what actually kept them there, and the honest answer is rarely “the industry” itself. It’s staying with an employer who genuinely cares, who invests in developing their people and who gives them the structure and standards to help set the bar rather than simply meet it. That’s a different kind of loyalty – built on a business that keeps raising its own standard, not one that stands still once it’s good enough.

At CleanEvent, that kind of employer relationship has a name: “The CleanEvent Way”, underpinned by industry-leading standards and a genuine structure for developing people. It isn’t language written for an award entry – if anything, it works the other way round. Recent recognition through the European Cleaning & Hygiene Awards reflects a culture that was already there, built through how the business operates and how it treats its people, rather than being the reason that culture exists.

The first shift sets the tone
Whether someone joins through direct recruitment or arrives via a TUPE transfer, the approach is deliberately the same: help them feel welcomed, informed and genuinely part of the team from day one. For anyone coming across through TUPE, that matters more than it might sound. They arrive with an existing routine, existing relationships and often real uncertainty about what’s about to change – and how they’re brought in shapes whether they settle or simply comply.

None of this happens by accident. It’s underpinned by what CleanEvent calls its FRESH values – Flexibility, Responsibility, Empowerment, Sustainability and Honesty. What makes them different here is how ordinary their use has become: they show up in how people are recruited, communicated with, developed and recognised, not just in an induction pack.

Looking after people is not a separate line item
It would be easy to file wellbeing initiatives, learning and development, apprenticeships, leadership programmes and recognition schemes under “nice to have” – worthy additions that sit alongside the actual job. CleanEvent’s experience argues the opposite: these things are not separate from operational delivery; they are how it’s achieved.

A confident, supported team performs more consistently. People who feel invested in are more likely to flag a problem early and more likely to hold a standard on a difficult shift than someone who feels replaceable. Looking after people has become part of how quality gets delivered – not a benefit bolted on beside it.

Careers that are built, not simply promised
Career development is in the DNA of the CleanEvent Way, and it is one of the clearest areas in which the company’s intentions are borne out in practice. Across the business, people who began in operational cleaning roles have gone on to become supervisors, managers, subject matter experts and company directors.
Apprenticeships, the CleanEvent Academy and the International Exchange Programme give that progression a clear route. Development does not depend on being noticed at the right moment or happening to be in the right place; people can see where the opportunities are and what is required to reach them.

Tomas Gronager, CEO of CleanEvent confirms “Developing our people isn’t just good for our teams, it’s fundamental to the credibility and long-term success of CE World.”

Perhaps the strongest evidence is how ordinary this has become within the business. Progression is not confined to a handful of exceptional success stories. It is part of the everyday experience of working at CleanEvent: visible, attainable and open to people across the organisation.

This is, first and foremost, a story about people. It also says something important about CleanEvent’s wider approach to sustainability, which extends well beyond environmental performance.
Employee engagement, workforce development and the opportunities created for local communities and people who have experienced extended periods of unemployment are all seen as part of the same commitment. Social value is not treated as a separate initiative running alongside the business; it grows from the same long-term investment in people.

Hundreds of small decisions
None of this depends on a single programme or a headline initiative. It is built through the small decisions made every day – the welcome someone receives when they first arrive, the interest shown in their progress, the support offered through a difficult period and the simple act of recognising a job well done.
Taken individually, these moments may seem unremarkable. Together, they shape how people experience the organisation and whether they genuinely feel part of it.

That is The CleanEvent Way: not a slogan on an induction slide, but a culture built one decision at a time – and one that benefits employees, clients and the wider cleaning profession in equal measure.

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